French star Juliette Binoche has revealed she turned down the opportunity to work with master filmmaker Steven Spielberg not once but thrice.
Binoche said Spielberg had approached her to star in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Schindler’s List and Jurassic Park. But she was unable to take up any of the films sometimes due to professional commitments, sometimes due to personal reasons.
"I don’t remember very well but Steven reminded me! The first time was for Indiana Jones 3 because I was doing The Lovers on the Bridge with Leos Carax. The second time, for Schindler’s List, I was pregnant, and then for the dinosaurs (Jurassic Park), I had already committed to Three Colors: Blue (Krzysztof Kieslowski’s film)," the actor told Variety.
Binoche, known for films such as Certified Copy, The English Patient, Chocolat, Clouds of Sils Maria and High Life, said she wanted to work on Jurassic Park.
"It would have been amusing to do Jurassic Park to see how (Spielberg) makes the film, but at the same time, Spielberg is more of a men’s director, like (Martin) Scorsese actually," she added.
Asked if she would still like to work with Spielberg or Scorsese, the Oscar winner gave a positive reply.
"Of course I would! Even if I find their approach to cinema to be very commercial, they have a fabulous technique which they own completely, and they’re storytellers. But their films lack women," Binoche said.
The actor was most recently seen in filmmaker Claire Denis' Both Sides of the Blade. She also appeared in the HBO limited series The Staircase, starring Colin Firth and Toni Collette.